Final Fantasy VIII: Ethereal Error
by Rukaii
Summary: 2 years after the events of FFVIII, an event occurs in which shatters time and space. This event displaces our heroes into a mysterious world. A Dark Sequel to Final Fantasy VIII, FF8:EE contains main character deaths.


**Final Fantasy VIII: Ethereal Error**

**Chapter 1**

**Displacement**

It had happened in a flash, the noise was louder than anything they had ever heard before. All anyone could see was a white flash which was followed by temporary blindness. The noise had temporarily deafened them... and the displacement of matter resulted in their feeling of absolute nothingness... it was a horrific situation. Not knowing if one is alive or dead... it felt as if the soul itself was being consumed...

As quick as the flash had occurred, it was over. When Squall had opened his eyes, he saw the remnants of the ball room of Balamb Garden in which he was dancing with his bride Rinoa... However, the ball room appeared decrepit as if it hadn't been maintained in over a decade... perhaps longer...

"Owww... man that was some killer dance number..." Zell said, standing up slowly while shaking his head subtly to regain his senses.

"...Is everyone all right?" Selphie questioned, as she was helped up to her feet by Irvine.

"I'll live...," Quistis replied, wiping the small trickle of blood from her face with a handkerchief, "...Squall?"

Squall was looking around frantically, his movements were sporadic and without structure. Concerned, Quistis approached Squall. She scanned the entire ball room as she approached him... she soon realized Squall's frantic behavior... Rinoa was no where to be seen...

"Where is she?!" Squall shouted, "Dammit!" Squall yelled as he slammed his fist into the ground, falling to one knee...

"Squall..." Quistis muttered meekly...

"So...tell me, how do you like this display... Mr. Leonhart?" A mysterious voice rang out suddenly. From the shadows, a figure approached slowly. The figure was covered in a mysterious black cloak. To add to the disguise, the figure wore a mask in which completely covered their face. It was almost impossible to determine whether or not the voice of this mysterious figure was that of a man or a woman...

"Who are you? Where's Rinoa? Answer me!!" Squall demanded fervently, his fists trembling in anger.

"My, my... so many questions... yet so little time, I'm afraid. What I will tell you is that you shouldn't bother with Lady Rinoa any further... if you do, you will regret it – of this I promise you..."

"I will not abandon Rinoa!!" Squall shouted intensely, "We all deserve answers!"

"Yeah, the man's right – fess up! Just tell us what's goin' on here!" Zell added in support of Squall, following up with a smirk, "or else..."

"...You dare threaten me, boy... Very well..." the mysterious figure replied, shifting their cloak to the side revealing their hands...which followed up with a gesture of beckoning, "If you so believe you can make me talk... then by all means..."

"Tch!"

At that moment, Seifer, who was also in the company of the others walked up and placed his arm in front of Zell, "Forget it, Chicken-wuss... leave this one to me... I'll make 'em pay for Rinoa..."

"Hey!"

"...Besides... you're no match for this one anyway..." Seifer added, raising his gunblade and pointing it at the mysterious figure ahead...

In a flash, projecting fire from the palm of his hand towards the mysterious figure, Seifer charged with his gunblade drawn. The sphere of fire connected and enveloped the figure in a blaze. Arcing his gunblade, Seifer thrust downward – only to be met with resistance! The figure, unphased even with flames enveloping their clothes, grabbed the blade of Seifer's gunblade just before it could reach it's mark.

"Honestly... is this all you're capable of... Seifer Almasy?"

"W-what?" Seifer stammered in complete disbelief.

Suddenly two shots from a rifle sounded, one ricocheted off of the mysterious figures mask with the other purging the glove of the hand that held Seifer's gunblade. This resulted in the figures release of the gunblade. In that moment, Seifer stepped backwards a few steps to gain distance from the mysterious figure in black.

"Nice shot, Irvie!" Selphie cheered in encouragement.

"Heh..." Irvine smirked in confidence, however, "Ugh...wha—?" Irvine dropped the rifle he had held and slowly raised his right hand which was trembling... and dripping blood.

"...I told you it was futile. But you didn't want to listen. Now..." The mysterious figure began to speak before suddenly vanishing.

"Where'd that bastard go?" Seifer shouted.

"I-I don't have any idea, I've completely lost sight of him!" Zell replied.

"Irvine, are you okay?" Selphie asked, she was visibly concerned with Irvine's injury.

"Don't worry about me... I've been in worse shape before," Irvine replied with a reassuring smirk...just—" Irvine suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence, his eyes widened...

"I-Irvine? Gah...ughh..." Selphie slowly averted her gaze from Irvine towards her midsection...a large blade had pierced her from behind.

The mysterious figure stood behind Selphie, holding an extremely long claymore. The claymore itself had purged Selphie from the middle of her back through her upper midsection/torso. Remnants of bone and internal organ tissue were mixed with an abundance of blood which dripped from the tip of the solid black claymore.

"SELPHIE!!!" Irvine screamed in horror.

Zell and Seifer were speechless and looked on with enmity in their eyes at this mysterious figure who donned solid black and wielded a black claymore...

"Oh God... Selphie..." Quistis murmured, dropping to her knees beside Squall, who still hadn't raised his head.

Selphie couldn't bring words to speak, her eyes wide with anguish. Tears streamed down her face perhaps knowing of her impending doom...at that moment, the figure ripped the black claymore from her body resulting in the blood to gush from Selphie's body. Selphie crumbled to the ground, her body hitting with a sickening sticky thud. Irvine instantly sprinted over and cradled her head in his arms...

"Selphie...Selphie...GODDAMMIT!!!" Irvine screamed looking up at the figure with intense hatred in his eyes, "You monster—you killed her!!"

"...Miserable whelp... this is what happens to those who stand up to powers they cannot hope to fathom. The death of this woman... I hope it taught each and every one of you a valuable lesson... you may have been displaced in time and space... but you exist in this world now. You will have to learn how to act if you wish to survive here..."

"I've had enough, to hell with you!!"

In that moment, Irvine unleashed a barrage of gun fire directed towards the dark figure. The sheer precision and focus of his shots which targeted the torso of the figure was deadly on target. The bullets penetrated the mysterious figures entire body, shredding limbs like a tree trunk that was ran through a wood chipper. Then, finally, the mask shattered revealing the face of a man. This man was unknown, the outside of his pupils were solid red and his pupils were solid black. His long jet black hair was soaked in blood. The remnants of his shredded body fell to the ground a few centimeters from Selphie's now lifeless body...

"You...fool...you may have killed this body... but as a result... you have...killed...yourself as well..." Were the last words to come from the mysterious man before he breathed his last breath...

"...Heh...so long as I could take you down...I don't...mind..." Irvine muttered as he fell to his knees, blood oozing from the pores of his skin. Blood ran from his eyes, appearing like tears of crimson...

"Irvine!" Zell started to run over to him, but was stopped by Seifer.

"What the hell man? Let me go! Irvine's...Irvine's..."

"..." Seifer merely shakes his head, "Stop it... there's nothing you can do for him now... he's gone..."

"DAMMIT!!!" Zell screamed, slamming his fists repeatedly into the ground beneath him.

"W-why?" Quistis cried out, "Why won't it work..."

Seifer slowly walked up towards Quistis, "What are you talking about, Trepe?"

"...Guardian Force... I can't summon Phoenix..." Quistis replied meekly.

"What? My magic worked fine earlier, perhaps you're doing something wrong—?"

"No... she's not doing anything wrong. It's clear, the Guardian Force do not work here..."

Seifer smirked, "It's about time you said something, Squall. I was beginning to think you had lost that leaders edge."

"I don't have time to play games with you Seifer... Irvine and Selphie are dead. We need to give them a proper burial..."

"...You're right... this isn't the time to be arguing..." Seifer replied stoically.

"Oh Irvine... Selphie..." Quistis sobbed in sorrow.

_With the tragic loss of Irvine Kinneas and Selphie Tilmitt; Squall, Seifer, Zell, and Quistis must investigate this new plane they have unwillingly traveled to. Questions abound with no answers in sight... A somber funeral awaits... in Chapter 2: A Solemn Vow_

**Rukaii's Corner**

I'm sure plenty of you final fantasy VIII fans are pretty shocked that I killed off two of the main cast in the pilot chapter. This story itself is a dark tale and I want to convey that fact to the reading audience here at . I would appreciate feedback so that I can determine how I might proceed in working on this particular project. Thanks for reading. 


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